Mixed vegetable dal recipe, vegetable dal step by step

Mixed vegetable dal or clean-your-fridge-out dal recipe, one of my favourite ways to put together a simple dal for chapatis. This is an incredibly versatile recipe and can be adapted based on what vegetables you have lying around and even what type of dal you feel like on a given day.

Throwing a bunch of ingredients into a pressure cooker and getting a tasty result in the end is my kind of cooking on most days. As far as success with that technique goes, this dal would be somewhere on the top of the list. I used one carrot, a few cubes of frozen spinach (which explains the greenish tinge to the colour of the mixed vegetable dal you see in the pictures), onion, tomato, cabbage, and capsicum.

As far as the type of dal for mixed vegetable dal is concerned, the best options are moong dal or masoor dal. I used masoor dal since it cooks very quickly and I wanted to throw everything into the pressure cooker and get an output where the vegetables weren’t cooked to a mush. Success!

I have a ton of dal recipes on this site, here are some favourites. Click on the image for full recipe.

Soak the masoor dal for 30 minutes. This speeds up the cooking process so that we can ensure that the vegetables and dal cook at the same time

Prepare your vegetables as the dal soaks. Roughly chop everything into small pieces and keep ready

When ready, add the masoor dal to the bottom of the pressure cooker and layer the chopped vegetables on top

Add turmeric powder and salt

Pour in enough water to just submerge the vegetables and dal. The amount will depend on the size of your pressure cooker. I am using a 5 litre cooker here since I cooked a large batch of vegetable dal

Pressure cooker on medium heat for 10-12 minutes or two whistles. This is enough to cook the dal and also the vegetables just right

When the pressure has released, open and gently stir the dal to ensure the consistency is right. If the dal is too thick, add more water at this time and bring to a boil

Heat oil or ghee for tempering and add the cumin seeds

When they turn a darker brown, add the hing and fry for another 10 seconds

Dunk the tempering into the dal

Top up with the garam masala and mix again

Serve hot with rotis or phulkas

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Step by Step Mixed Vegetable Dal Recipe

Soak the masoor dal for 30 minutes.

Prepare your vegetables as the dal soaks. Roughly chop everything into small pieces and keep ready

When ready, add the masoor dal to the bottom of the pressure cooker

and layer the chopped vegetables on top

Add turmeric powder and salt

Pour in enough water to just submerge the vegetables and dal. The amount will depend on the size of your pressure cooker.

Pressure cooker on medium heat for 10-12 minutes or two whistles. This is enough to cook the dal and also the vegetables just right

When the pressure has released, open and gently stir the dal to ensure the consistency is right. If the dal is too thick, add more water at this time and bring to a boil

Heat oil or ghee for tempering and add the cumin seeds

When they turn a darker brown, add the hing and fry for another 10 seconds

Dunk the tempering into the dal

Top up with the garam masala and mix again

Serve hot with rotis or phulkas

Notes:
Since I used spinach, I didn’t add any coriander leaves since I don’t like the clashing flavours. You can top up with some coriander leaves if you prefer
You can also add more spices per your choice, like coriander powder, along with the tadka
I used green chillies in this instance but red chilli powder works just as well